This invention relates to a steam cycle used in power producing steam stations to convert heat energy to electricity.
The conversion of heat from a primary source such as a nuclear power reactor to usable electricity is accomplished by a variety of steam cycles. Many of these cycles produce high concentrations of impurities at locations in the cycle where water boiling occurs, a problem often solved by use of blowdown streams which continuously or intermittently discard or reprocess a portion of a fluid stream intended to contain the impurities. Blowdown systems are not considered energy efficient since the heat content of the blowdown flow is usually lost.
Consequently, it is an object of this invention to provide a steam cycle which avoids chemical impurity concentrations and minimizes energy loss.